To prepare for her December nuptials to Tye Strickland, it seems fitting that Bachelor alum Melissa Rycroft got in top form on the small screen, getting buff on a season of Dancing With the Stars. After eight hour practices, seven days a week, “I was in the best shape of my life,” Rycroft tells SHAPEBride Magazine. “At one point I looked at my abs and I could count them!” Needless to say, slipping into her Alfred Angelo wedding dress — of which the star says, “I went to Alfred Angelo for my gown, and I fell in love with the first dress I saw in their catalog,” — was no problem, and to stay toned, Rycroft now runs two to three miles four to six days a week, and eats healthfully at home. “Now we eat out only once a week — either on Friday or Saturday — and I cook on most other days,” she says. “For the past few years, I’ve just been taking care of myself, and right now I’m really enjoying having a meal on the table when Tye gets home — we’ll see how long that lasts! I make a lot of chicken, but I just learned how to prepare ahi tuna, and it’s delicious!” As for how the newlywed keeps the romance alive post-matrimony, Rycroft says, “Confidence, and how you portray it, is sexy,” she says. “I do it by smiling and being happy and bubbly. I’m not Megan Fox sexy, but I’m girl-next-door sexy — and I know Tye finds that very attractive. Everyone needs to find their own meaning of the word — and flaunt it!” For more from Rycroft, look for SHAPEbride Magazine with her dual covers hitting newsstands Friday. –Emily Hsieh

please make this girl go away. She’s like an old penney that keeps showing up. Really? No one else would be better for the cover? No models with great bods? Give us a break from Melissa. We all need it AND WANT IT.